I fought the lawn and the…well - it's too early to tell who is going to win.

When the builder finished our house, he graded it in such a way as to divert water around the house and toward a seasonal creek that is behind our lot. He warned us that we needed to get landscaping quickly in place that would prevent erosion from undoing what he had done. Then it rained for two months and we saw a lot of the dirt beside the driveway wash down the hill.

At last we found a landscaper who was oriented toward xeriscaping and using native plants. He brought in rock to create a dry creek bed where the natural drainage was occurring. Then he put in a bridge and stepping stones for access to our front door from the driveway. He hauled in more dirt to put along the driveway. He spread two kinds of grass seed (one is a winter grass, the other is a drought resistant native summer grass), and covered them with erosion preventing netting. I'm to water for 10 minutes every day, and in 14 days I'm supposed to see sprouting grass.

For my part, I am picking up rocks and gravel. I used leftover bricks from the house to line a path from the back door to the driveway. I'm hauling the small gravel to that path, so it won't be muddy in rainy weather. The large rocks I'm hauling to the side of the house, to extend the dry creek bed on down the side of the hill.

As I lift the buckets of rocks, I think about the fact that weight bearing exercise is supposed to increase bone strength. As I wipe sweat from my face, I remember that intense physical exercise is the best kind of exercise for Type Os.

When I get the rocks removed, I want to plant wild flowers. I know this will be a long and hard project. It won't be finished in a year - or even two. I know that in the spring I will have to attack the grass that will certainly want to take over my dry creek bed. I've got weeks of hauling rocks yet to go. I'm taking on the lawn - and I intend to win.